violence

Violence, in any forms, constitutes an infringement upon personality rights

Verbal and Non-Verbal Violence

These types of violence are expressed through words or attitudes aimed at intimidating, humiliating, or controlling an individual or a group. They can be indicative of physical violence. Verbal and non-verbal violence can be challenging to recognize as they may manifest as silences or exclusion, degrading and humiliating remarks disguised as humor, or through insults and shouting.

Written Violence

On paper, through emails, on social networks, etc., written violence, even when anonymous, is not tolerated by the institution, particularly in cases of injurious comments in course evaluations or personal criticism on social media platforms.

Physical Violence

Physical violence involves a physical act upon another person resulting in pain and/or injury. Besides inflicting physical suffering, the perpetrator's intention may also be to undermine the self-control of the other. Physical violence can also be indirect, such as hitting walls, hitting furniture, or throwing objects close to the victim.

Recognizing and reporting any threat or danger directed towards members of the University community helps create a positive, respectful, and secure working and learning environment for everyone.

 

  • Verbal violence: insults, offensive remarks, shouting, and/or disparagement
  • Written threats or violence: threatening messages, comments, letters, or injurious emails
  • Non-verbal violence: deliberately ignoring someone
  • Physical violence against others: hitting, slapping, shoving, groping
  • Self-directed violence: suicide attempts, suicide

testimonials

Narratives reconstructed from real events handled by the University of Geneva.

STUDENT

A master's student complains to the program director about being a victim of discrimination and defamation by her fellow students with whom she is working on a group project. They accuse her of being aggressive and using offensive language towards them. Following the instructor's decision to remove her from the group to ease tensions, the student contacts the Student Health Service, the Cellule Confiance, and the Secretary-General's office to express her sense of injustice in this situation. Mediation is proposed to find a resolution between the student and the instructor. However, the investigation of this situation reveals that this student displays a highly aggressive behavior towards her peers and the teaching staff. Therefore, the intervention aims to ensure the safety of the individuals involved in this situation and make the student aware of the impact of her actions.